- Fills a clear need for new celestial targets for amateur astronomers
- Devoted to viewing the deep-space discoveries of Sir William Herschel, the greatest visual observer and astronomer that ever lived
- Provides vivid visual descriptions and new CCD electronic images of the best Herschel objects
- Examines fascinating aspects of the Herschel Catalogue such as the mysterious "missing" Herschel objects

- Describes the astronomy, science and physics of total solar eclipses, and the phenomena that can be observed only during a total eclipse
- Enables members of the growing community of eclipse chasers to ensure that they have with them all the right equipment to observe or image a total solar eclipse
- Describes what to expect during a total solar eclipse, in different conditions and in different locations
- Describes previous eclipse expeditions, including a look at the less serious side: eclipse expedition disasters
- Provides a checklist of where to go to see total solar eclipses for the next 15 years

- Up-to-date information for amateur astronomers who want to know all about Jupiter
- Hugely practical guide details observation techniques for practical astronomers, working with a range of different instruments
- Reviews the latest findings and satellite observations of Jupiter
- Lavishly illustrated with superb pictures of Jupiter made the author, who then explains to the reader how to arrive at such beautiful results

- Mercury and Venus are exposed as fascinating sister planets well worthy of the amateur observer’s attention
- The book provides – unlike any other – a wealth of practical detail about observing the inferior planets
- Uniquely, both Mercury and Venus are also explained in terms of their history and geology

- Contains a distillation of our current knowledge of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto…and the 10th planet
- Many new observing projects for different sizes of telescopes (from 4-inch-)
- Includes details on how to image cloud features on Uranus
- Describes how to accurately measure and record the brightness of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
- Gives examples of contributions by owners of modest (and some large) aperture telescopes
- Includes finder charts for Uranus and Neptune

- Offers a complete guide to comets
- Provides detailed information about how to observe them with telescopes or even binoculars
- Includes data from the latest space probes sent to Comets Halley, Wild 2, and Tempel
- Explains how to image comets using digital cameras and how to discover comets with just a computer

- Provides all the background material needed to appreciate and understand the astronomy of the major radio sources that are observable by amateurs
- Contains the information necessary to build and use a low cost backyard radio telescope
- No previous experience in electronics is required
- Gives plans for a simple ’cook-book’ radio telescope that can be built in a weekend!

The book combines the physical background on the nature and data of galaxies, the relevant instrumentation and viewing techniques, and finally the targets and their individual appearance in telescopes of various apertures.